Some historians have argued that these struggles between
railways were a major factor in their declining profitability after 1870, as
faster trains and more luxurious carriages cost more to build and operate.
Cain, for example, stated his belief that ‘service competition alone would have
been sufficient to promote levels of capital spending and methods of operation
that continuously eroded profitability.’[3] Personally, I have always
doubted the extent to which competitive trains services actually eroded
companies’ profitability. I argued in my thesis, on the management of the
London & South Western Railway after 1870, that service competition was on
the margins of the railway’s activities. It and the GWR ran hundreds of
services each day and only four or five express services to the West Country
were truly ‘competitive.’[4]
One of the fiercest competitions between railway
companies were the famed ‘Races to the North’ in 1888 and 1895. Two groups of
companies that had control of the east and west coast main lines competed for
the fastest trains between London and Scotland. On the east coast route the
competitors were the Great Northern (London to York), North Eastern (York to
Edinburgh) and North British Railways (Edinburgh to Aberdeen); while on the
west coast route the contestants were the London and North Western (London to
Carlisle) and Caledonian Railways (Carlisle to Edinburgh and Aberdeen). The race
of 1895, which received the same attention in the press as the derby at
Cheltenham, captured the public’s imagination, culminating in a west coast
train on the night of 22 and 23 August making the journey between London and
Aberdeen in 8 hours 42 minutes. This was eight minutes quicker than an east
coast train the night before.[5]
Because of events like this, the press liked to paint
these railway races as battles between warring powers. But how serious was the
animosity between the companies? Did the east and west coast railways really
treat their competitors as enemies? Or were the ‘races’ just an exuberant, but
good-natured, expression of a rivalry between them? Perhaps an event that
occurred before Christmas 1882 suggests an answer to these questions.
In early December 1882 a very thick letter arrived at
King’s Cross headquarters of the Great Northern Railway. Before a list of 214
names was a letter addressed to those in authority within company:
Gentlemen
We
the undersigned draw your attention to the fact that there are in London many
Scotchmen who desire to avail themselves of the opportunity of visiting their
friends in Scotland during the short vacation at Christmas but are deterred
from doing so by the heavy railway fares.
We would therefore
petition to you to give this subject your full consideration and endeavour to
make some arrangement, whereby the result aimed at by your petitioners may be
gained namely: a reasonable reduction in fares between London and Scotland
equal to, if not quarter than that granted during the summer months.
We
are certain that should you see your way to meet us in this matter, it would
not only confer a great boon, but from the large numbers availing themselves of
the opportunity, prove equally to your advantage.
We
are yours respectfully… [6]
But this petition was not the only one to be sent, and a
duplicate also landed on the desk of George Findlay, the London and North
Western Railway’s General Manager. I suspect Findlay’s natural response was to
reject the request. But he was an astute railway manager, and possibly because he wished to maintain good relations with his east coast
rivals, he contacted to his opposite number within the GNR, Henry Oakley. ‘As I
presume a similar application has been addressed to you’, wrote Findlay ‘I
shall be glad to know if you will be prepared to join us in declining to accede
to the request.’[7] Oakley’s response is not contained within the
file, but the two companies decided to reject the petition. Findlay also communicated
with the Midland Railway, who likewise operated a route between London and
Scotland, and while they had not received a petition, they too were to going to keep fares at established levels. [8]
In 1882 three railway companies, all of which were
theoretically competing with each other for traffic between London and Scotland,
collectively agreed to deny travellers making this journey reduce-rate fares
over the Christmas period. Of course, this case does not indicate the nature of
the GNR and LNWR’s relationship five or ten years later when they were racing. Nevertheless,
it may suggest that despite superficially appearing to be competing railways, as
a matter of fact their relationship was actually quite close and they worked
together when it was mutually beneficial for them to do so. ‘Market forces’, in this case at
least, did not really work. One thing is for certain, the Great Northern, London
& North Western and Midland Railways spoiled Christmas for a lot of London-based
Scotsmen and their families in 1882.
--
[1]
Jack Simmons, ‘South Western v. Great Western: railway competition in Devon and
Cornwall’, The Journal of Transport
History, 4 (1959), 27-34
[2]
Jack Simmons, The Victorian Railway,
(London, 1991), p.83; Jack Simmons, The
Railway in England and Wales, 1830-1914, (Leicester, 1978), p.84-85
[3]
P.J. Cain, ‘Railways 1870-1914: the maturity of the private system’, in,
Michael J. Freeman and Derek H. Aldcroft, Transport
in Victorian Britain, (Manchester, 1988), pp.115
[4]
David Turner, ‘Managing the “Royal Road”: The London & South Western
Railway 1870-1911’, (Unpublished PhD Thesis. University of York, 2013)
[5]
Oswald S. Nock, The Railway Race to the
North, (London, 1958), p.120-121
[6]
The National Archives [TNA], RAIL 236/721/9, From London `Scotchmen' asking for
reduction in fares to Scotland during Christmas vacation, Letter from
organisation committee to Great Northern Railway, 4 December 1882
[7]
TNA, RAIL 236/721/9, From London `Scotchmen' asking for reduction in fares to
Scotland during Christmas vacation, Letter from George Findlay to Henry Oakley,
11 December 1882
[8] TNA, RAIL 236/721/9, From
London `Scotchmen' asking for reduction in fares to Scotland during Christmas
vacation, Letter from George Findlay to Henry Oakley, 13 December 1882